American barberry

6.8

A small bush from eastern North America with yellow spring flowers, bright red berries, and scarlet leaves in autumn

noun
/əˈmɛrɪkən ˈbɑːrbəri/

: agracejo americano

In autumn, the American barberry turns a brilliant scarlet.

Examples

The bright red berries of the American barberry attract many birds in autumn.
The American barberry thrives in well-drained soils across eastern North America.
Gardeners often choose American barberry for its colorful fall foliage.
The American barberry is a beautiful shrub.
Gardeners often choose American barberry for its colorful fall foliage.
The American barberry thrives in well-drained soils across eastern North America.
The bright red berries of the American barberry attract many birds in autumn.

Synonyms

barberry

vsAmerican barberry

1 8.2

A thorny bush with yellow flowers and small red or blue berries

is a specific North American shrub with scarlet leaves and glossy red berries

Berberis canadensis

vsAmerican barberry

Specialized

9.9

A small North American bush that loses its leaves in winter with bright red autumn leaves and red berries

refers to the exact same species rather than a broader group

Surface Forms

American barberry singular

American barberries plural

Morphology

American + barberry

This is a straightforward compound of the nationality adjective 'American' and the shrub name 'barberry', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a type/variety of barberry associated with America. The construction follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (nationality adjective + noun) and carries no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making the meaning directly derivable from its parts.

Etymology

American barberry is a name that points to the plant: American shows 'from America' and barberry is the old name for small bushes with bright, tart red berries. So the name simply means a barberry shrub that grows in America.